System and Method for Obtaining Subtextual Information Regarding an Interaction Between an Individual and a Programmable Device

ABSTRACT

The system contains an output device in communication with the programmable device. The output device produces output information from the programmable device to the individual. An input device is in communication with the programmable device. The individual communicates a responsive act to the programmable device through the input device. The responsive act will include at least one psychomotor behavioral element. A processor integral with the programmable device determines the preferred modalities of the individual based, at least partially, on the psychomotor behavioral element of the responsive act from the individual. The processor also determines a preferred combination of modalities and an ordering of modalities by preference thereby further defining a focus of the individual&#39;s attention. The combination and order of modalities is calculated by an equation: Σ∫ ∞   −∞ ((ΣG i (δx i /δ l t))/(ΣG i (dx i /dt i )))dG i dt i ∝Ψ(G).

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority to copending U.S. Application entitled, “Programmable method and apparatus for real-time adaptation of presentations to individuals,” having Ser. No. 12/053,064, filed Mar. 21, 2008, itself a continuation application of U.S. Pat. No. 7,383,283, the disclosures of which are entirely incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is in the field of programmable devices. Specifically, the present invention is in the field of mining nonconscious information provided by individuals in interactions with programmable devices.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Semiotics is a theory of signs and symbols, specifically dealing with their function in both artificially constructed and natural languages, including syntactics, semantics, and pragmatics. Language in all forms is semiotics in action because whenever entities communicate, they do so by exchanging groupings of mutually agreed upon signs. Here, “language in all forms” can be though of as any interaction between entities (can be the same entity) that results in conscious or non-conscious activity Culture, education, age, ethnicity, etc., all play a role in which signs are mutually agreed upon and how the signs may be used.

Whether people are born with an innate understanding of language is debatable. Barring organic trauma, people are born with an ability to communicate wants, needs, and desires. At some point the innate ability to communicate may be overlaid with an understanding of which specific interactions produce which specific results (an example is “language in all its forms”). This point harkens to one of the rules of semiotic information—“the first communication must be instructions on how to build a receiver.”

The construction of language from primitive communication takes the form of the acquisition of psycholexicals, or conceptual primitives. Conceptual primitives are the archetypes of language and often take the form of words that describe things rather than things in themselves. For example, “water” can be thought of as the conceptual primitive of ocean, lake, river, rain, etc. “Big” is closer to being a true conceptual primitive because “big” is used as an adjective in most languages that support such grammar constructs. Conceptual primitives are the building blocks of understanding and recognition of the individual's environment and are the internal precursors of language.

The most basic conceptual primitives are binary and usually comprised of mythic opposites such as “good” and “bad”. The child learning to lingualize its experience does so by interacting with its environment in the presence of others with more developed language skills. What usually happens is that the child's first lingualizing experiences of its environment are polarity commands such as “come”, “go”, “hot”, “cold”. These lingualizations become conceptual primitives and place the child into a mythic reality due to their polar, binary nature; something either “is” or “is not”. Later the child learns that shades of gray exist and begins to experience sensory reality. Language develops when the child begins applying conceptual primitives to create more complex communications. These psycholexicals or conceptual primitives stay with the individual long after sophisticated language skills develop and remain how the individual—regardless of age, gender, or education—initially internalizes information. Further, these psycholexicals are highly culture and language specific.

All language-using species create language semiotically. A child learning to speak learns that certain sounds will be rewarded with certain actions. This is first accomplished by making sounds to be rewarded with objects in the child's immediate surroundings. The child sees a cookie and says, “Cookie”, to an American English speaker, the child gets a cookie. If the child were from a different culture and language set, saw a cookie and said, “Bistoli” to a speaker of only American English, the child would be unrewarded. Language is a well-defined set of semiotic equations in which the signifier is culturally accepted as being psycholexically equivalent to the object that is culturally defined.

From this it is derived that any form of communication is a series of semiotic equations. Language is not limited to oral communication. Signed languages such as Ameslan, Singlish, Freslan, etc., contain the same richness of concept spaces, psycholexical primitives, and so on. Further, language generation is not engaged only when the speaker is being heard. An individual that communicates frequently with hand gestures will engage in many of those same hand gestures while on the phone. When a person is engaged with something on the television, that person may speak to the television without any delusion of being heard.

At the point where conceptual primitives become active in communication, they change role from conceptual primitive to modality. A modality is a conceptual primitive, which is active either consciously or unconsciously in the psyche of an individual and comes in two flavors: sensory and internal. Sensory modalities are those conceptual primitives directly related to primate sensory systems (vision, hearing, etc.) as expressed through information exchange and communication. Internal modalities are those conceptual primitives by which information is expressed both to ourselves and to others.

Software has been designed in the past to facilitate communication between individuals and programmable devices. Web sites for instance permit this type of communication. However, the communication facilitated has been rather shallow. The programmable devices are typically limited to links (essentially invitations to further pages accepted by clicking on those links) or word matching, such as locating pages containing words for which the user is searching. Programmable devices require a user to explicitly communicate or, perhaps more precisely, only react to explicit, conscious communications from the user. Richer communication between individuals and programmable devices requires allowing a programmable device to recognize non-conscious communication and/or implicit communication.

Thus, a heretofore unaddressed need exists in the industry to address the aforementioned deficiencies and inadequacies.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present invention provide a system and method for obtaining subtextual information regarding an interaction between an individual having preferred modalities and a programmable device. Briefly described, in architecture, one embodiment of the system, among others, can be implemented as follows. The system contains an output device in communication with the programmable device. The output device produces output information from the programmable device to the individual. An input device is in communication with the programmable device. The individual communicates a responsive act to the programmable device through the input device. The responsive act will include at least one psychomotor behavioral element. A processor integral with the programmable device determines the preferred modalities of the individual based, at least partially, on the psychomotor behavioral element of the responsive act from the individual. The processor also determines a preferred combination of modalities and an ordering of modalities by preference thereby further defining a focus of the individual's attention. The combination and order of modalities is calculated by an equation: Σ∫^(∞) _(−∞((ΣG) _(i)(δx_(i)/δ_(l)t))/(ΣG_(i)(dx_(i)/dt_(i))))dG_(i)dt_(i)∝Ψ(G).

The present invention can also be viewed as providing methods for obtaining subtextual information regarding an interaction between an individual having preferred modalities and a programmable device. In this regard, one embodiment of such a method, among others, can be broadly summarized by the following steps: providing output information from the programmable device to the individual; receiving input with the programmable device through a responsive act from the individual; sensing at least one psychomotor behavioral element of the responsive act from the individual; and determining the preferred modalities of the individual based on the psychomotor behavioral element of the responsive act from the individual.

Other systems, methods, features, and advantages of the present invention will be or become apparent to one with skill in the art upon examination of the following drawings and detailed description. It is intended that all such additional systems, methods, features, and advantages be included within this description, be within the scope of the present invention, and be protected by the accompanying claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Many aspects of the invention can be better understood with reference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the present invention. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system for obtaining subtextual information regarding an interaction between a user having preferred modalities and a programmable device, in accordance with a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a system for obtaining subtextual information regarding an interaction between a user having preferred modalities and a programmable device, in accordance with a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a method of obtaining subtextual information regarding an interaction between a user having preferred modalities and a programmable device, in accordance with the first exemplary embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a second method of obtaining subtextual information regarding an interaction between a user having preferred modalities and a programmable device, in accordance with the first exemplary embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a third method of obtaining subtextual information regarding an interaction between a user having preferred modalities and a programmable device, in accordance with the first exemplary embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a fourth method of obtaining subtextual information regarding an interaction between a user having preferred modalities and a programmable device, in accordance with the second exemplary embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention uses psychometrics, a concept related to biometrics except that the technology relates to a person's thought patterns as opposed to biological traits. The difference allows psychometrics to generate value in applications presently addressed by biometrics as well as applications for which biometrics is too limited. Therefore the detailed description of the claimed invention is briefly prefaced with an enabling description of psychometrics as it relates to one of many applications.

Psychometrics relies on principles from psychomotor research. One application of the present invention combines psychometrics and the latest in web technologies to link what happens in the viewer's mind to what happens to the mouse and keyboard to what happens to the machine interface focal point (e.g., a cursor) to what happens on the screen. The following definitions establish the context with which to understand the present invention:

1) The person sitting at their computer, browsing a website, is the viewer;

2) The viewer is looking at web sites or other electronic interfaces via a browser;

3) The viewer's browser is at least partially controlling what is displayed (parts of web pages, new web pages, etc) on the computer monitor by hand motion on a pointing device called a mouse and by keystrokes on the keyboard;

4) The mouse has a symbolic representation on what is displayed via the machine interface focal point (e.g., a cursor);

5) The viewer navigates the web site by using the mouse to move the machine interface focal point and then clicking on an action item on the currently presented web page;

6) Whatever is currently shown in the browser window may be viewed as a single presentation from the web site. This current browser window may consist of frames and other complexities but still represents a single presentation to the viewer. A presentation may include other output, such as audio transmissions, for the viewer; and

7) The machine interface focal point and presentation are the interface between the viewer and the web server which is delivering content to the browser for display.

People, regardless of cultural origin or life experience, have a psychometric tendency known as “egocentric localization.” An individual's egocentric localization is their sense of where their body is positioned relative to other objects in the external environment. Thus, our viewer knows intuitively that they are sitting at their computer, knows where the computer is in relation to where they are sitting, knows where the keyboard is having only glanced at it once, knows where the mouse is having only glanced at it once, etc.

Individuals also have the ability to perceive the distances between objects within their environment. This ability is known as “object-relative localization.” Object-relative localization means not only does the viewer know that they're sitting, that they are looking at their monitor to see their browser, that their hands are at or near the keyboard, and that one hand may be on the mouse from time to time, but it also means that the viewer intuitively knows the distances and spatial relationships between the monitor, the keyboard, the mouse, their seat, the top of their desk, etc.

It is important to remember that all this is being done nonconsciously.

As you read this, you are engaged in a flurry of activity of which most people are totally unaware. You are demonstrating a cognitive psychomotor process called “selective attention in vision.” This means you're reading parts of this text, basically breaking the entire document into separate elements which are more easily visually digested and processed. The reason you are demonstrating selective attention in vision is because when you read, when you look at a picture, when you look at anything that requires the processing of non-remembered information, you are performing a “visual search task” and the search is for “pictoral or monocular cues” which cause your eye to tell your brain that the information your mind is seeking has been found. These concepts have a vast history in neuroscience and cognition studies.

Studies indicate that everyone projects their internal reality onto their external world. This is known as “mapping.” As you read this, chances are you're making evaluations of what is written—deciding if you agree or disagree. In either case, you're taking your internal reality (the decision to agree or disagree and the thoughts that led to that decision) and projecting it onto your external world (these words as they appear in your browser or on a printed page). You're applying a part of your internal reality—what makes sense, what's valid, what you're willing to accept as true—and using it as a test for some stimulus in your external world—the information being offered herein.

When you take action based on some projection of your internal reality onto your external world, you've demonstrated a “cognitive-motor map.” The “map” part we explained above. The “motor” part comes from the action taken. The “cognitive” part comes from the decision you made after doing some information processing. All of these parts deal with “eye movement and information processing.” Eye movement and information processing are closely related because one cannot happen without the other. Even someone staring off into space thinking is nonconsciously performing minute contractions of the eye muscles as thoughts slide into and out of place.

Because human beings are wired the way they are, your body tracks where your eyes are looking. Unless we're being coy or trying to see something with peripheral vision, we tend to “face things head on.” This is especially true when we're searching for something (as in “visual search task”). We “face tasks head on” because it allows us to bring the full implementation of our cognitive-motor maps to bear on the problem; both eyes are focusing on the target, the ears are equidistant and our auditory system is focused, even our hands tend to go into acquisitional behavior (you're ready to reach for something). When using the computer our hands normally do not come off the keyboard or the mouse until we are done processing and begin evaluating (mapping). Then, at some point, our hands go back to where they were . . . almost. For example, moving your hands from mouse to keyboard or vice-versa. This action indicates that some non-conscious decision was made to operate differently in the environment.

Because people all over the world are physiologically wired substantially similarly, people all over the world have “sensory motor learning” experiences. As a child learns to catch a ball, they get bopped by the ball a few times before they learn to co-ordinate what their eye sees with what their hands do. Sensory motor learning is necessary because normal perceptual development depends upon active bodily movement under higher sensory (visual, auditory, kinesthetic) guidance. But there are two aspects to sensory motor learning. The aspect of motor learning that occurs watching TV or going to the theater is called “exafference.” Exafference is stimulation that acts upon a passive observer. The second aspect of motor learning involves more “audience involvement” and is called “reafference.” Reafference is stimulation that changes as a result of an individual's own movements—like moving your mouse or using your keyboard to alter the interface that appears in your browser.

Finally, the “stimulus control and attention” concept tells us that an individual's attention tends to focus where that individual is able to control the amount of stimulus given. When you work on a car, you want a good light to see what you are doing. You focus the light in the area of the car you are working to see better. And, of course, the light allowed you to focus your attention on a certain part of the car, bringing it into better visual focus than the other parts in the car.

A viewer is sitting at a computer, using a browser to perform a visual search task and something in the presentation provides a pictorial or monocular cue that causes the viewer's brain to suspend eye movement. The suspended eye movement signals the viewer's mind to alter the information processing it is doing, briefly. Whatever this pictorial or monocular cue was, the viewer's brain needs to control the amount of stimulus in order to focus the viewer's attention. These actions are where sensory motor learning and reafference come in to play. The viewer will focus attention by using the mouse or keyboard to move the machine interface focal point or enter some data (a command, text, etc.) to whatever caught the viewer's attention. These actions may, and likely all, happen nonconsciously.

Even if the viewer's hands were tied so that they could only come free when the viewer was ready to request the next presentation, the sensory motor system knows where your attention was and will not rest until it has done its job. And its job is to make some part of the viewer's body make some kind of movement in the cue's direction (even when there are multiple cues being processed). The movement may be minute, but it will happen unless the viewer has tremendous physical training and control to resist the movement. The viewer's eyes go where the mind was and the hands are sure to follow. In the case of a web browser, the cursor (or any machine interface focal point), an extension of the hands, will follow.

Psycho-, socio-, and neuro-linguistics teach that at the highest level, everybody has the same maps because everybody has the same set of sensory apparatus. These same three disciplines teach that as you go deeper and deeper, everybody's maps change to the point where you can tell from a single sentence much about an individual's life and state of mind.

As described herein, people project their internal reality externally. This projection helps us know who we are, our boundaries, our limits, our friends and our neighbors. When a viewer is sitting at a browser, the viewer projects their internal reality onto the presentation in the browser window.

When the viewer projects their internal reality onto the presentation, they are looking for something to connect to, something which is familiar at some level and to which they can use as a reference for everything else on the screen. Individuals do this in the real world via the sense of egocentric localization. Individuals do this in the virtual world by using the cursor (machine interface focal point) and the brain's abilities to recognize patterns and discriminate familiar patterns from less familiar ones. In a very real sense, the cursor takes the place of our hand. Thus, an individual's “virtual” egocentric location is referenced by the cursor's position on the screen.

Just as virtual egocentric localization occurs when an individual finds out where the cursor is within the presentation, object-relative localization occurs when the individual determines where everything else is on the screen in relation to the cursor (hence the term ‘machine interface focal point’). Once the viewer finds out where everything is on the screen via a quick glance, they start parsing. It doesn't matter if they are reading text or looking at pictures, the viewer will parse the presentation into easily processable pieces of information. This especially occurs if the viewer wants to remember the information.

To be clear, people don't “read” web pages as they “read” a book. Usually they scan and, when scanning, they tend to use a stimulus control to focus their attention on what they are reading because there's so much visual noise on the page they can't focus otherwise. Stimulus control is the individual in the guise of the machine interface focal point. On the computer, we control stimulus via the mouse and keyboard. Specifically, parsing the presentation requires an individual's body to match their selective attention in vision to selective movement in the body due to sensory-motor learning and reafference. In other words, where the eyes go, the cursor (machine interface focal point) will follow. The association of eyes and cursor can be accomplished by using a mouse to move the cursor to where the eyes are going, by scrolling a page to bring the location where the eyes are going to the cursor, or otherwise utilizing one or more input devices to bring the cursor and object of the eyes into at least partial alignment.

Humans have as many modalities as they have senses (which exceed the five primary senses taught). If a viewer is sitting at their browser looking at a presentation. When a pictorial or monocular cue occurs, and if their hand is on the mouse or keyboard, the cursor (machine interface focal point) will move minutely if not grossly (in the sense of motor movement) towards that cue. There is a definite distance associated with the movement of the cursor from where it started to where it ended up. Before the viewer clicks on anything, the viewer is merely attempting to focus their attention by controlling the stimulus. Because the presentation (as presented on a computer monitor) is basically a two dimensional grid, the path the cursor takes, which is governed by the viewer's mouse movement, can be measured as:

f(distance)=Dx+Dy

There is more than just linear distance associated with moving the cursor (machine interface focal point). Forcing the viewer to visually search for pictorial or monocular cues on a presentation is highly desirable because doing so takes time. When we add time to the simple equation above we get something more like this:

f(movement)=(Dx/Dt)+(Dy/Dt)

Also, a path is not a simple (X1−X0)+(Y1−Y0) distance. A path, like a path in the woods, means avoiding things, going around others, taking the best route possible when the egocentric localizing viewer determines what is around in the object-relative localizing way. Even though the actual mouse motions may have been minute, the viewer was parsing that interface to focus attention. Therefore, the equation more resembles:

f(sensory motor activity)=*t((dx/dt)+(dy/dt))

But the sensory-motor activity is tied to the cognitive-motor map because the brain (cognitive) is telling the body (motor) what to do based on what the eyes are telling it (sensory). Specifically, the brain is doing lots of work to direct attention to what the mind wants to know and it's doing it along sensory modality channels, so the equation is really:

∫_(x)∫_(y)∫_(t)(attention)∂x∂y∂t = ∫_(x)∫_(y)∫_(t)(*(sensory  modality)f(modality)(∂x/∂t) + *(sensory  modality)f(modality)(∂y/∂t) + *(sensory  modality)f(modality)(∂t/∂t))∂x∂y∂t

The best part about this equation is that the *(sensory modality)f(modality) parts—which relate to the visual, auditory and kinesthetic sensory modalities—of the above equation are fairly well known and have been documented for about the past 25 years. Also, these equations are the reduced form of the general technology equation

f(attention)=_(j=1) G ⁸(S _(i) f(modality_(i))(dj/dt)·_(j=1) G ^(n)(dj/dt)(d ^(n) i/dt ^(n))

¦j=dimension counter, i=modality counter,

which accounts for a plurality of environments and a plurality of degrees of freedom within that environment.

The science surrounding psychomotor behaviors has been developing for some time. However, the application of the science to programmable devices is new. As individuals continue to become more digital, more interactive with programmable apparatus, the concept of tracking an individual's psychomotor behaviors using those same programmable apparatus becomes increasingly convenient.

Given software that can track cursor (machine interface focal point) movement through time (meaning velocity and acceleration, relative position and distancing), a string of variables can be sent back to the web server. This string of variables can contain a string of (X,Y,T) triplets decoded by server-side software to determine movement through a grid and time in each quadrant (the quadrant sizes can be manipulated as dictated by presentation needs). When grid movement is determined, the modality summations can be selected to determine if the viewer's attention is focused on visual, auditory, kinesthetic or other related cues.

Based on the results of this equation, the web server can prepare in real time what the next presentation and interface should be in order to capture more of the viewer's attention by presenting the web content in modalities which the viewer has nonconsciously selected. Thus, content is directed via a smart web server to a viewer based on the viewer's nonconscious selection.

Returning to a previously discussed equation: f(movement)=(Dx/Dt)+(Dy/Dt), movement is the measure of cursor movement over the presentation. From any starting point on a presentation, the cursor movement is a series of ordered doublets, ((X,T), (Y,T)), where X and Y represent distance along a Cartesian grid, for example, and T is the time of each movement. There are several software packages and software languages that monitor cursor movement over a presentation for the purposes of popups and the like, and there are several input devices for moving the cursor other than with the mouse. All of these methods are commonly available over the Internet and the input devices and associated operation language do not constitute a unique part of this invention.

Each presentation sent by the present system carries a set of specific meta-tags. One of these meta-tags acts as a session-id. Each presentation itself is mapped to an interface grid. The interface grid is useful for the scripting language of the invention. The interface grid may have a series of reference targets. These reference targets allow the system to know where the original cursor position was on each presentation by determining Dx and Dy via cursor movement before crossing any reference target. It has been demonstrated that the complexity of any presentation system can be determined by the equation: 1/a+1/.beta.+1/.gamma.=1 where a, .beta. and .gamma. represent the complexity of the presentation format, the web server and the data server respectively. Each of these variables can be tiered so that the above equation can represent a very large web system. It was also demonstrated that it is possible to atomize any presentation so that the most minute changes in the presentation can be managed by a sufficiently designed server system. The user of web server, data server, etc., are for the simplified discussion of a web system. The system and the equations given may be part of an Information Driven Presentation Architecture.

When a known viewer requests a presentation through the present invention, they are sent an instantiation, which may be a unique presentation. The web server system also sends the instantiation to the engine. The instantiation also contains the viewer identification. As the viewer moves about the presentation, their interface collects ((x,t), (y,t)) doublets and sends them back to the engine at some interval which is determined from the above equation. The engine uses these doublets and the present instantiation as data for the equations, which allows the engine to determine a viewer's modalities and attention.

As more intelligence is gathered regarding preferences of individual known viewers, the engine sends instructions to the web server system to build a highly customized instantiation. When the viewer has finished with the instantiation and selects an action item from the interface, the engine has already built the instantiation inside the web server and delivers it. Likewise for additional instantiations until this viewer session is complete. This is but one means of using a simple web browser interface as the environmental focus. Other means of using web browsers as the environmental focus or the use of other types of environments may similarly be realized.

The present invention is directed to gathering information about a user interacting with a programmable device. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system 10 for obtaining subtextual information regarding an interaction between a user 12 having preferred modalities and a programmable device 14, in accordance with a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention. The system 10 contains an output device 16 in communication with the programmable device 14. The output device 16 produces output information 18 from the programmable device 14 to the user 12. An input device 20 is in communication with the programmable device 14. The user 12 communicates a responsive act 22 to the programmable device 14 through the input device 20. The responsive act 22 will include at least one psychomotor behavioral element. A processor 24 in communication with the programmable device 14 determines the preferred modalities of the user 12 based, at least partially, on the psychomotor behavioral element of the responsive act 22 from the user 12. The processor 24 also determines a preferred combination of modalities and an ordering of modalities by preference thereby further defining a focus of the attention of the user 12. The combination and order of modalities is calculated though the processor 24 by an equation: Σ∫^(∞) _(−∞)((ΣG_(i)(δx_(i)/δ_(l)t))/(ΣG_(i)(dx_(i)/dt_(i))))dG_(i)dt_(i)∝Ψ(G).

The programmable device 14 may be a PC, laptop, or similar computer. The programmable device 14 may be a cell phone, MP3 player, or similar personal electronic device. The programmable device 14 may be an automobile, a television, a home security system, or any other programmable device that has the elements described herein, specifically, an input device 20, an output device 16, and a processor 24. It should be noted that some devices, such as a touch screen, for example, may operate as both the input device 20 and the output device 16.

FIG. 1 shows the output device 16 transmitting the output information 18 to the user 12. The output information 18 may include information that is received audibly, visually, kinesthetically, olfactorily, or by any other means through which a user may receive information. The input device 20, while shown as an extension of the user 12, is a device at least partially compatible with the programmable device 14 such that the user 12 can use the input device 20 to transmit at least one responsive act 22 to the programmable device. The input device 20 may be wired to and/or integral with the programmable device 14. The processor 24 may be integral with the programmable device 14, in communication with the programmable device 14 locally, or in communication with the programmable device 14 remotely. Further, while each is illustrated as only one object, any of the programmable device 14, the input device 20, the output device 16, and the processor 24 may be formed by multiple devices operating cooperatively (e.g., the input device 20 may be a combination of a mouse and a keyboard and the output device 16 may be a combination of speakers and a display screen).

Many wonderful results are achieved with the aforementioned system 10. In one exemplary result, the Applicant has used this system 10 to determine that when a user 12 is reading text on an output device 16, the user 12 will follow the text with the cursor/machine interface focal point (responsive act 22) using a mouse (input device 20). How quickly the user 12 progresses through the text may indicate an education level, a familiarity with the language, dialect and jargon, and level of interest (is the person reading intently or scanning for a specific portion of the text), as an example.

Another exemplary result of the aforementioned system 10 is identifying confusion. In one exemplary result, the Applicant has used this system 10 to determine that when a user 12 is reading text on an output device 16, the user 12 will follow the text with the cursor (responsive act 22) using a mouse (input device 20). When the user 12 gets confused, the user 12 will indicate the confusion with a responsive act 22 using the input device 20 (e.g., the mouse). More specifically, if an Anglo-American (the user 12 in this example) is reading text on the output device 16 and becomes confused, the Anglo-American will disengage with the confusing information by removing his/her hand from the mouse (input device 20). When removing his/her hand, the mouse will back up a short distance, causing the cursor to move down the screen a slight distance. The processor 24 will process this responsive act 22 to determine confusion (a determination which will be related to how soon the user 12 reconnects with the input device 20, as removing the hand from the mouse may also indicate the user 12 has stepped away from the programmable device 14 or otherwise changed focus to something else). In contrast, if the user 12 is Asian and becomes confused by the text read on the output device 16, the user 12 will maintain contact with the mouse, but will remain extremely still. The processor 24 will process this responsive act 22 to determine confusion.

As the preceding paragraph indicates, system 10 for obtaining subtextual information regarding an interaction between a user 12 having preferred modalities and a programmable device 14 requires an appreciation for who the user 12 is. If the user 12 is known to be Asian, the mouse retreating a short distance and stopping will never be interpreted as confusion. Thus, the system 10 must become aware of various cultural characteristics of the user 12. This awareness may come from how the user 12 uses the input device 20 to navigate the output device 16 in various responsive acts 22. For instance, Anglo-Americans and Asians will scan a web page or other output information 18 they view for the first time in different ways. The manner in which they scan the output information 18 will be conveyed by the input device 20 through responsive acts 22 and used to create a cultural profile of the user 12. It should be noted here that ethnicity for the purpose of the system 10 may not be related to skin color or appearance. If an Asian infant is adopted by an Anglo-American family, that infant will likely adopt the Anglo-American culture and interact with a programmable device 14 as an Anglo-American user 12. The purpose of the cultural profiling of the present invention is not to determine birthplace (although it could be used for that purpose with relative accuracy), but to determine how responsive acts 22, like backing up the mouse a short distance, should be processed by the processor 24.

Further, these cultural characteristics are, at the primary level, preferred modalities. The Asian person that maintains stillness of the input device 16 in the face of confusion is showing a preference for the ‘oneness’ modality. Oneness may be described as related to monistic theism popular in eastern cultures (such as Buddhism and Hinduism), a religious philosophy that believes all is one and that all reality is subsumed under the most fundamental category of existence. Thus, when a user 12 classified as Asian finds a passage of the output information 18 fails to make sense or fit within the overall output information (confusion), the user 12 will become still and signal the preferred modality of oneness through the responsive act 22 of being still. Other preferred modalities that may be conveyed by the aforementioned responsive act 22 could include, as examples, identity and present. It is the recognition of these preferred modalities that allows the system 10 to obtain subtextual information regarding the interaction between the user 12 and the programmable device 14.

Another exemplary result of the aforementioned system 10 is identifying focus. If a user 12 using a programmable device 14 and a mouse (input device 20) to browse web pages (output information 18), steps away from the programmable device 14 and then returns to it, the user 12 will circle (responsive act 22) the portion of the web page that was previously being viewed and to which the focus is initially returning. Thus, after a period of inactivity with the mouse, the processor 24 may detect a circular motion of the cursor, which will indicate the portion of the web page at which focus is being re-established.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a system 110 for obtaining subtextual information regarding an interaction between a user 112 having preferred modalities and a programmable device 114, in accordance with a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention. The system 110 contains an output device 116 in communication with the programmable device 114. The output device 116 produces output information 118 from the programmable device 114 to the user 112. An input device 120 is in communication with the programmable device 114. The user 112 communicates a responsive act 122 to the programmable device 114 through the input device 120. The responsive act 122 will include at least one psychomotor behavioral element. A processor 124 integral with the programmable device 114 determines the preferred modalities of the user 112 based, at least partially, on the psychomotor behavioral element of the responsive act 122 from the user 112. The processor 124 also determines a preferred combination of modalities and an ordering of modalities by preference thereby further defining a focus of the attention of the user 112. The combination and order of modalities is calculated though the processor 124 by an equation: Σ∫^(∞) _(−∞)((ΣG_(i)(δx_(i)/δ_(l)t))/(ΣG_(i)(dx_(i)/dt_(i))))dG_(i)dt_(i)∝Ψ(G). The system 110 may further include a language engine 126.

A language engine 126, as used herein, is a mathematical equation that adapts itself to what is being calculated, as if the equation first determines which types of variables its been given then decides which parts of itself need to be used in order to perform the calculation. The language engine 126 may have use in permitting the programmable device 114 to communicate with the user 112 using conceptual primitives. Communication is a time and energy consuming process regardless if the communication is conscious or non-conscious, intentional or unintentional. Measuring the time and energy expenditure can take several forms and all measurement methods will result in some calculated value, which we will call weight, meaning simply that each communication has some psycholexically measurable value. Weight determinations will be highly dependent on how much atomizing of the communication is done, regardless of other time and energy expenditure calculations.

The language engine 126 may be developed for a specific culture or cultures. The culture is defined by the requirements of the language engine 126 being developed and usually is the target audience for some communication. For example, a business language engine may be devised for speaking to people in business and the plurality of cultures may include all genders, ethnic backgrounds, and educational backgrounds of people engaged in commercial activity.

The target audience is often from a designated socio-cultural demographic (DSD), and the information may recognizably demonstrate many of the modalities of that DSD. Neutral information is designed to access many language engine psycholexical primitives of the DSD while trying to be psycholexically neutral to the plurality of cultures within the DSD. As an example, if “girl” is a neutral object, then “young girl” is not because the concept “young” modifies the concept “girl” to create a new concept which differs from the original concept. DSD specific modalities are the result of neutralizing communication to the conceptual primitive elements.

Given that each communication is formed with modalities and each communication can be assigned a calculated weight, it is possible to perform one or more basic mathematical operations on a given communication to determine how individuals from the DSD will respond to communication.

As an example, the communication “I am writing this paper” may include weights and modalities as identified in Table 1.

Psychological Atom Weight Modality I 1 Identity am 1 Identity writing 2 Kinesthetic 1 Present this 1 Identity paper 2 Associative Weight here is a simple syllabation of the word and is used for example purposes. Weight may be based on factors including, but not limited to, age, gender, socio-cultural group, native language, present language, education level, income level, socio-economic class, etc.

Table 1 suggests to us that the communication “I am writing this paper” is one that strongly associates the doer to the deed. There are several “identity” atoms, an action (“Kinesthetic”) atom, a temporal-spatial (“Present”) atom and an “associative” atom. Table 1 may be contrasted with Table 2, which breaks down the nearly identical statement “John Smith is writing this paper.”

Psychological Atom Weight Modality John 2 Identity Smith 3 Identity is 1 Present writing 2 Kinesthetic 1 Present this 1 Identity paper 2 Associative This seemingly equivalent communication (and it would be no different if I were John Smith) increases the Identity value of the communication by 200% and the Present value by 200%.

Regardless of who is expressing the communication in Table 2, more mental effort is required to formulate “I” as self-recognition than “John Smith” as an object of the statement. The human mind recognizes self very quickly and often effortlessly. The human mind recognizing other (even when the other and self are one and the same) involves the creation of image, retrieval of memory, evaluation of memory with respect to presented information, etc. More effort is involved in recognizing other than recognizing self. Even if you had never met John Smith, simply reading that statement and learning that John Smith is writing this paper, you will develop some conscious and non-conscious referentiation for “John Smith” in your mind.

Summing the weights in Table 1 generates a total of 8M (1+1+2+1+1+2), where M is a general designator for a modality in the communication. Summing the weights in Table 2 generates 12M (2+3+1+2+1+1+2).

Table 3 shows a further modification of the statement from Table 1, specifically “I am writing this paper for you.”

Psychological Atom Weight Modality I 1 Identity am 1 Identity writing 2 Kinesthetic 1 Present this 1 Identity paper 2 Associative for 1 Thereward you 1 Otherness 0.5 Identity That simple additional participle phrase creates an expectation in the recipient of the message: “What paper? Why is it for me? What is it about? When will I get it?” and the list can go on.

The most obvious difference between the expressions of Table 1 and Table 3 is the inclusion of another person—the “you”—which is linguistically and conceptually different from the original person—the “I”. The expression of Table 3 is calculated as (1+1+2+1+1+2)×(1+1+0.5)=20M. The addition of the other person in the phrase manifests itself as increased complexity in the cognition of the phrase.

While only words have been given modality classification and weight in the above tables, images, colors, shapes, and sounds can be given modality classifications as well. Where the input device 120 drives a cursor when a user 112 is viewing output information 118 on an output device 116 may be a responsive act 122. If the focus of the attention of the user 112 is a green object in the upper right corner of the output device 116 instead of the blue object in the lower right corner of the output device 116, the user 112 is providing a responsive act 122 for which preferred modalities can be calculated using the language engine 126, the focus of attention may be indicative of the gender of the user 112. If a user 112 is more actively reading a passage of text in a 12 point font over a passage of text in an 8 point font, which can be observed by tracking movement of the input device 120, the user 112 may be identifying preferred modalities and the more active reading may be indicative of the age of the user 112. Even how the user 112 scans through the output information 118, and the route taken with the input device 120 (which objects were avoided, which objects received lingering attention), may be responsive acts 122 used to identify the preferred modalities of the user 112.

These simple equations become more rigorous as the system is extended to include both internal and external conceptual primitives and the recognition that modalities can be affective, effective, and transitive.

Sensory modalities can be defined as external, meaning there can be DSD consensus agreement of an event external to the observer. Internal conceptual primitives are those which don't rely on DSD consensus because such modalities as “upward”, “identity”, and so on are highly dependent on and are internal to the observer. This extension can be thought of as utilizing “real” and “imaginary” numbers via a system similar to M*−>M⁵ conversions.

A modality is affective when the conscious subjective aspect of feeling or emotion is internal to the individual. In other words, a modality is affective based on how an individual internalizes the information presented. A neutral statement such as “one plus one equals two” is given non-neutral meaning and significance due to the current state of mind of an individual, their physical well-being, emotional state, etc.

A modality becomes effective when individual A broadcasts a message with the desire of creating a specific internal experience in individual B. The message “one plus one equals two” is modified to illicit a desired response. “Are you sure one plus one equals two?” is an example of a modification intended to force an individual into a trans-derivational, or fugue, state.

A modality becomes transitive when it affects and effects both individual A and individual B in their usage. In other words, individual A makes some statement with the intention of effecting an experience of individual B and, in the process of doing so, alters their own experience, as in someone stating a self-realization. The knowledge of individual B of individual A changes and individual A, by verbalizing the realization, changes their knowledge. As an example, think of individual A telling individual B “I love you” for the first time. Transitive modalities are unusual in mathematical form, as the variable becomes part of the defining function.

The present invention may make use of a plurality of language engines 126. A language engine, as used herein, is a mathematical equation that adapts itself to what is being calculated, as if the equation first determines which types of variables its been given then decides which parts of itself need to be used in order to perform the calculation. The present invention may make use of as few as one language engine 126 or as many as 50 or more language engines 126 when resolving a problem.

The system 110 may also include a computer network 128 in communication with the programmable device 114. The output information 118 may be provided through the computer network 128 to the programmable device 114. Further, the processor 124 may be located remotely from the input device 120 and the output device 116, thus determining the preferred modalities of a user 112 without performing the related calculations on the programmable device 114 of the user 112.

A data log 130 may be in communication with the input device 120 and integral with the programmable device 114. The data log 130 may track the mouse movement as a function of time and report the data in data packets to the processor 124 located remotely from the programmable device 114. The data log 130 may track the mouse movement relative to the output information 118.

A user history 132 may be provided. The sensed psychomotor behavioral elements of the user 112 may be stored in the user history 132. The user history 132 may be stored local to the processor 124, local to the input device 120, in one or more remote locations, or some combination of the three. The sensed psychomotor behavioral element may be stored in terms of preferred representational geometries via linear algebraic transforms. The user history 132 may be utilized to store information regarding the cultural characteristics of individual(s) using the input device 120.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart 200 illustrating a method of obtaining subtextual information regarding an interaction between a user 12 having preferred modalities and a programmable device 14, in accordance with the first exemplary embodiment of the invention. It should be noted that any process descriptions or blocks in flow charts should be understood as representing modules, segments, portions of code, or steps that include one or more instructions for implementing specific logical functions in the process, and alternate implementations are included within the scope of the present invention in which functions may be executed out of order from that shown or discussed, including substantially concurrently or in reverse order, depending on the functionality involved, as would be understood by those reasonably skilled in the art of the present invention.

As is shown by block 202, output information 18 is provided from the programmable device 14 to the user 12. Input is received with the programmable device 14 through a responsive act 22 from the user 12 (block 204). At least one psychomotor behavioral element of the responsive act 22 is sensed (block 206). The preferred modalities of the user 12, based on the psychomotor behavioral element of the responsive act 22 from the user 12, are determined (block 208).

FIG. 4 is a flowchart 300 illustrating a second method of obtaining subtextual information regarding an interaction between a user 12 having preferred modalities and a programmable device 14, in accordance with the first exemplary embodiment of the invention. As is shown by block 302, output information 18 is provided from the programmable device 14 to the user 12. Input is received with the programmable device 14 through a responsive act 22 from the user 12 (block 304). At least one psychomotor behavioral element of the responsive act 22 is sensed (block 306). The preferred modalities of the user 12, based on the psychomotor behavioral element of the responsive act 22 from the user 12, are determined (block 308). Blocks 304, 306, and 308 are repeated for a plurality of users 12. The psychomotor behavioral elements sensed and the preferred modalities determined are aggregated (block 310). A report containing the aggregated data is produced (block 312).

The report may be something as simple as a graph or figure that conveys some information from the aggregated data. If, for instance, a web page is viewed by one thousand people and four hundred of them experience confusion at the same passage, the aggregated data may indicate to the web page publisher that there is a confusing passage that needs to be clarified. Similarly, aggregated data may show demographic information of the users 12 visiting the site, based on known psychomotor behavioral elements and the preferred modalities of various demographic groups. Understanding who is viewing the web page and/or how they are thinking when viewing the web page is useful information.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart 400 illustrating a third method of obtaining subtextual information regarding an interaction between a user 12 having preferred modalities and a programmable device 14, in accordance with the first exemplary embodiment of the invention. As is shown by block 402, output information 18 is provided from the programmable device 14 to the user 12. Input is received with the programmable device 14 through a responsive act 22 from the user 12 (block 404). At least one psychomotor behavioral element of the responsive act 22 is sensed (block 406). The preferred modalities of the user 12, based on the psychomotor behavioral element of the responsive act 22 from the user 12, are determined (block 408). Further, a preferred combination of the preferred modalities and an ordering of the preferred modalities by preference are determined thereby further defining a focus of the user's attention (block 410).

The third method may also include modifying the output information 18 to provide content in the output information 18 in the preferred combination of modalities and the order of modalities by preference (block 412). The combination and the order are placed in at feast one respective co-ordinate group of representational geometry to which attention of the individual is focused, as indicated by the psychomotor behavioral element.

The third method may also include defining a psychodynamic behavioral model and a cognitive behavioral model using the preferred combination of the preferred modalities and the ordering of the preferred modalities (block 414) and modifying the output information 18 as a function of the psychodynamic behavioral model and the cognitive behavioral model (block 416).

FIG. 6 is a flowchart 500 illustrating a fourth method of obtaining subtextual information regarding an interaction between a user 112 having preferred modalities and a programmable device 114, in accordance with the second exemplary embodiment of the invention. As is shown by block 502, output information 118 is provided from the programmable device 114 to the user 112. Input is received with the programmable device 114 through a responsive act 122 from the user 112 (block 504). At least one psychomotor behavioral element of the responsive act 122 is sensed (block 506). The preferred modalities of the user 112, based on the psychomotor behavioral element of the responsive act 122 from the user 112, are determined (block 508). The output information 118 for a plurality of values is mapped using a language engine 126 (block 510). Preferred modalities of the user are further determined by relating the responsive acts 122 to the mapped output information 118 (block 512).

It should be emphasized that the above-described embodiments of the present invention, particularly, any “preferred” embodiments, are merely possible examples of implementations, merely set forth for a clear understanding of the principles of the invention. Many variations and modifications may be made to the above-described embodiments of the invention without departing substantially from the spirit and principles of the invention. All such modifications and variations are intended to be included herein within the scope of this disclosure and the present invention and protected by the following claims. 

1. A method of obtaining subtextual information regarding an interaction between an individual having preferred modalities and a programmable device, said method comprising the steps of: providing output information from the programmable device to the individual; receiving input with the programmable device through a responsive act from the individual; sensing at least one psychomotor behavioral element of the responsive act from the individual; and determining the preferred modalities of the individual based on the psychomotor behavioral element of the responsive act from the individual.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of storing the sensed psychomotor behavioral element in a user history, wherein the sensed psychomotor behavioral element is stored in terms of preferred representational geometries via linear algebraic transforms.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the information from the programmable device is at least a portion of a web page and the responsive act is use a of an input device to move a machine interface focal point within the web page.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the responsive act further comprises circling a portion of the web page with the machine interface focal point.
 5. The method of claim 3, further comprising the steps of: repeating the method for a plurality of individuals; aggregating the psychomotor behavioral elements sensed and the preferred modalities determined; and producing a report containing the aggregated data.
 6. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of: determining a cultural characteristic of the individual; and influencing the preferred modality determination based upon the characteristic.
 7. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of determining a preferred combination of the preferred modalities and an ordering of the preferred modalities by preference thereby further defining a focus of the individual's attention.
 8. The method of claim 7, further comprising the step of modifying the output information to provide content in the output information in the preferred combination of modalities and the order of modalities by preference whereby the combination and the order are placed in at least one respective co-ordinate group of representational geometry to which attention of the individual is drawn, as indicated by the psychomotor behavioral element.
 9. The method of claim 7, further comprising the steps of: defining a psychodynamic behavioral model and a cognitive behavioral model using the preferred combination of the preferred modalities and the ordering of the preferred modalities; and modifying the output information as a function of the psychodynamic behavioral model and the cognitive behavioral model.
 10. The method of claim 7, wherein the combination and order of preferred modalities is calculated by an equation: Σ∫^(∞) _(−∞)((ΣG_(i)(δx_(i)/δ₁t))/(ΣG_(i)(dx_(i)/dt_(i))))dG_(i)dt_(i)∝Ψ(G).
 11. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining the user is at least one of the group comprising confused and anxious.
 12. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of; mapping the output information for a plurality of values using a language engine; and further determining preferred modalities of the user by relating the responsive acts to the mapped output information.
 13. A system for obtaining subtextual information regarding an interaction between an individual having preferred modalities and a programmable device, said system comprising: means for providing output information from the programmable device to the individual; means for receiving input with the programmable device through a responsive act from the individual; means for sensing at least one psychomotor behavioral element of the responsive act from the individual; and means for determining the preferred modalities of the individual based on the psychomotor behavioral element of the responsive act from the individual.
 14. The system of claim 13, further comprising means for determining a preferred combination of the preferred modalities and an ordering of the preferred modalities by preference thereby further defining a focus of the individual's attention.
 15. The system of claim 13, wherein the combination and order of preferred modalities is calculated by an equation: Σ∫^(∞) _(−∞)((ΣG_(i)(δx_(i)/δ_(l)t))/(ΣG_(i)(dx_(i)/dt_(l))))dG_(i)dt_(i)∝Ψ(G).
 16. A system of obtaining subtextual information regarding an interaction between an individual having preferred modalities and a programmable device said system comprising: an output device in communication with the programmable device, whereby the output device produces output information from the programmable device to the individual; an input device in communication with the programmable device, wherein the individual communicates a responsive act through the input device including at least one psychomotor behavioral element of the responsive act from the individual; and a processor for determining the preferred modalities of the individual based on the psychomotor behavioral element of the responsive act from the individual including determining a preferred combination of modalities and an ordering of modalities by preference thereby further defining a focus of the individual's attention, wherein the combination and order of modalities is calculated by an equation: Σ∫^(∞) _(−∞)((ΣG_(i)(δx_(i)/δ_(l)t))/(ΣG_(i)(dx_(i)/dt_(i))))dG_(l)dt_(i)∝Ψ(G).
 17. The system of claim 16, further comprising a computer network in communication with the programmable device, wherein the output information is provided through the computer network to the programmable device.
 18. The system of claim 16, wherein the input device is a mouse and the responsive act is mouse movement.
 19. The system of claim 18, further comprising a data log in communication with the input device and with the programmable device, wherein the data log tracks the mouse movement as a function of time and communicates the tracked mouse movement to the programmable device.
 20. The system of claim 18, further comprising a data log in communication with the input device and with the programmable device, wherein the data log tracks the mouse movement relative to the output information. 